Pages

Monday, 21 January 2013

Welcoming the new day by running

I had only just left home when I jogged
leisurely past two kids on their way to school. As soon as they were
behind me, I heard one of them say to the other: ”I'm going to
start running!” and so he did, trying to catch up with me. I
briefly considered putting in a sprint at that point to show that
little rascal, but my past experience has taught me that antagonising
little children always ends up in tears.

What can I say, I'm a sore loser.

So instead I flashed him a big smile
and said encouragingly: ”You're fast!” whereupon he gave up
running and waited patiently for his friend to catch up. The proud
smile I got back from him was a nice addition to my run.

I had gone out early, before the sun
was up. Not sure why, something to do with having things to do today
maybe? If I don't remember what they were, they can't be important,
surely. Or maybethey were important, but probably
really boring. Selective memory, whatcha you gonna do, amiright?

The thermometer showed -11 and I
figured I'd get away with just a woolly hat on my head and a buff
around my neck. It worked well enough while I had the wind on my
back, but then I turned towards the river and the remnants of that
smile I gave the kid froze on my face. An invisible acupuncturist was
using my cheeks as voodoo dolls. No wonder. Wind-chill factor was
closer to -20. I didn't want to have to stop and readjust my buff, so
I tried to push on and ignore the cold. Up the hill I ran and found
myself in the paradoxical but all too familiar situation where my body
was sweating but my face was freezing. Pinching my cheeks to get the
blood circulation going might have saved me from getting a frostbite,
but it hurt. A lot.

I gave up soon afterwards and covered
my face with my buff mid-run (a useful skill to have as a runner when
it's too cold to stop). As I ran over the crest of the hill and
turned back towards the river, I saw that light was beginning to
break over the horizon. To say that the sky was orange would be the
understatement of the year. The sun seemed to be devouring whatever
parts of the sky weren't covered in clouds, with a hungry fire the
likes of which can only be found in volcanoes.

Out west the sky was holding on to a sober purple.

And now I shall continue with my day.
If only I could remember what it was I was supposed to be doing.